Why Queen Mette-Marit of Norway Did Not Attend Father-in-Law King Harald’s Church Memorial Service

Meredith KileMon, August 31, 2026 at 3:36 PM UTC

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Crown Princess Mette-Marit attends a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Nordic Embassies on Oct. 21, 2024Credit: Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty -

Queen Mette-Marit of Norway was not in attendance at a memorial church service for the late King Harald on Sunday, Aug. 30

The new Queen was reportedly absent as she continues to recover from a lung replacement in June

She is expected to attend the King’s official state funeral next week

Queen Mette-Marit of Norway was absent from a memorial church service honoring her late father-in-law, King Harald, over the weekend.

The late King died on Friday, Aug. 31, at the age of 89, after nearly two weeks of hospitalization for a rare blood condition. At the time of his death, his only son and heir, Haakon, 53, became King Haakon VIII, while his wife, Mette-Marit, 53, became Queen Consort.

On Sunday, Aug. 30, members of the royal family — Harald’s widow, Queen Sonja, 89; their children, King Haakon and Princess Märtha Louise, 54; and Haakon and Mette-Marit’s children, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, and Prince Sverre Magnus, 20 — attended a memorial service in honor of the late monarch at Asker Church.

Hello! reported that Mette-Marit was not present due to her recovery after a lung transplant in June. The palace told the outlet that Mette-Marit “has limited participation in official events” following her surgery.

(L to R): Prince Sverre Magnus, Queen Sonja. Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra and King Haakon of Norway attend a memorial church service for the late King Harald V at Asker Church in Asker, Norway, on Aug. 30, 2026Credit: Cornelius Poppe / NTB / AFP via Getty

It was announced on June 17 that Mette-Marit had undergone a “successful” lung transplant at Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet in Oslo, the same hospital where King Harald was being treated and eventually died. The new Queen was diagnosed with chronic pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, an incurable lung condition which led to her wearing a nasal cannula, or oxygen breathing tube, for some public appearances before her transplant.

Mette-Marit has been laying low following her surgery; however, she and Haakon were seen visiting King Harald in the hospital just a few days before his death.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway arrive at the Rikshospitalet hospital, where King Harald V of Norway is hospitalized, on Aug. 26, 2026Credit: Cornelius Poppe / NTB / AFP via Getty

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After missing the church service, Queen Mette-Marit was back with the royal family on Monday, Aug. 31, to participate in a procession in which King Harald’s coffin was moved throughout rooms in the Royal Palace until it reached the Royal Chapel, where he will lie in state for the public to visit until his official state funeral on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

The coffin of King Harald V of Norway is moved from the Red Salon to the Palace Chapel in Oslo by members of the royal family on Aug. 31, 2026Credit: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB / AFP via Getty

The new Queen walked with Queen Sonja behind the coffin, which was accompanied by King Haakon, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Märtha Louise and her three daughters — Maud Angelica Behn, Leah Isadora Behn and Emma Tallulah Behn. In a surprise, Marius Borg Høiby, Mette-Marit’s 29-year-old son from a previous relationship, also took part in the procession.

Høiby is currently on house arrest at Skaugum, the King and Queen’s official residence, after being found guilty of two counts of rape, among other offenses, in June. He was allowed release to visit the King in the hospital and will also be allowed to attend the state funeral next week, according to Norwegian press outlets.

Queen Mette-Marit is also expected to attend a ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 1, in which King Haakon will take his oath before the Storting, the supreme legislature of Norway. He will declare, “I promise and swear that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway in accordance with its Constitution and Laws; so help me God, the Almighty and Omniscient.”

However, King Haakon will not be feted with a lavish coronation like the crowning ceremony that took place in 2023, months after British King Charles acceded to the throne.

Norway has not held a coronation ceremony since 1906, when King Haakon VII and Queen Maud were crowned and anointed at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. Two years later, the Storting struck down the article on coronation in the Constitution.

When King Olav V succeeded his father in 1957, a much simpler consecration ceremony was held, and his son, King Harald, followed suit.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”